thag.16.1 Theragatha

Adhimutta (2nd)

“Those who we killed in the past,
whether for sacrifice or for wealth,
without exception were afraid;
they trembled and they squealed.
But you’re not scared;
you look even calmer than before.
Why don’t you cry out
in such a terrifying situation?”
“There isn’t any mental suffering
for one without hope, village chief.
All fears are left behind
by one whose fetters have ended.
When the conduit to rebirth is ended,
and the truth is seen as it is,
there is no fear of death;
it’s like laying down a burden.
I’ve lived the spiritual life well,
and developed the path well, too.
I do not fear death;
it’s like the passing of a disease.
I’ve lived the spiritual life well,
and developed the path well, too.
I’ve seen that there’s nothing gratifying in existences,
like someone who has tasted poison, then thrown it out.
One who has gone beyond, without grasping,
they’ve completed the task and are free of defilements.
They are content at the end of life,
like someone released from execution.
Having realized the supreme Dhamma,
without needing anything in the whole world,
one doesn’t grieve at death;
for it’s like escaping from a burning house.
Whatever has come to pass,
wherever life is obtained,
there is no Lord of all that:
so said the great hermit.
Whoever understands this
as it was taught by the Buddha
doesn’t grab on to any new life,
like you wouldn’t grab a hot iron ball.
It doesn’t occur to me, ‘I existed in the past’;
nor, ‘I will exist in the future’.
All conditions will disappear—
why weep over that?
Seeing in accordance with reality
the bare arising of phenomena,
and the bare process of conditions,
there is no fear, village chief.
The world is like grass and sticks:
when this is seen with wisdom,
not finding anything to be mine,
you won’t grieve, thinking ‘I don’t have it’.
I’m fed up with the body;
I don’t need another life.
This body will be broken up,
and there won’t be another.
Do what you want
with my corpse.
I won’t be angry or attached
on account of that.”
When they heard these words,
so astonishing and hair-raising,
the young men laid down their swords
and spoke these words:
“What have you practiced, Venerable?
And who is your teacher?
Whose instructions do we follow
to gain the sorrowless state?”
“The knower of all, the seer of all:
the victor is my teacher.
He is a Teacher of great compassion,
healer of the whole world.
He taught this Dhamma,
leading to ending, unsurpassed.
Following his instructions,
you can gain the sorrowless state.”
When the bandits heard the good words of the hermit,
they laid down their swords and weapons.
Some refrained from their former deeds,
while others chose the going-forth.
When they had gone forth in the teaching of the Holy One,
those astute ones developed the awakening factors and the powers.
Elated, happy, their faculties complete,
they realized the state of quenching, the unconditioned.